Oakville youth, grandmother groups team up to make a difference

The local grandmothers helping grandmothers group Oomama will partner with social activist and best-selling author Craig Kielburger on Thursday, Oct. 9, to empower local youths and help young people in need in HIV/AIDS-ravaged Africa.

Kielburger will be the keynote speaker at Oomama’s fall fundraiser, Kids Who Care – Creating a Different World, which is being held at the Meeting House, 2700 Bristol Circle.

The co-founder of Free the Children, an international charity and educational partner working to empower and enable youths, said he is honoured to be able to speak at the Oomama event.

“We share a similar mission with Oomama, an incredible organization that leaves positive, tangible impacts in the lives of children who are unintended victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis,” said Kielburger in an email.

“Both organizations want to ensure children in Africa have the resources to lead a dignified and sustainable future, and that they are empowered through education to live full, rich lives. We fully support the vision of this organization, which through its education campaigns and fundraisers, has empowered grandparents left to care for their orphaned grandchildren to turn the tide of AIDS in Africa.”

The event begins at 6:30 p.m., with Kielburger’s presentation starting at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets cost $30 for adults and $20 for students with proceeds going to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which works to help grandmothers caring for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

Since 2003, the Stephen Lewis Foundation has partnered with more than 300 community-based organizations in the 15 countries hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic. These organizations include the Chiedza Childcare Centre in Zimbabwe, which provides support to grandmothers and the children in their care through the provision of school fees and uniforms, and nutritious food.

Chiedza also has an innovative program, with an emphasis on girl’s education, designed to reach children who have never been to school and integrate them into the classroom.

Kielburger noted during his Oakville speech he would discuss how Free the Children first began as a group of a dozen 12-year-olds and has since grown into an organization working with 2.3 million youth involved in education and development programs in more than 45 countries.

“I’ll also speak about the next generation and how they are overwhelmingly socially conscious. The youth we work with have raised $45 million and volunteered more than 15 million hours for more than 700 local and global causes to earn their entry to We Day,” said Kielburger.

“Of our alumni, 80 per cent continue to volunteer; 83 per cent continue to donate annually; and 79 per cent voted in the last national election. For all those who bemoan the state of ‘young people today’, these statistics are living proof that our youth can create, and are creating, positive change in their communities.”

He said people would leave the Kids Who Care – Creating a Different World event with a renewed belief they can change the world.

Young people, he said, would leave eager to help others while adults would learn how to encourage and support their children in working toward creating a different and better world.